IROC IX was the ninth year of IROC competition, which took place in 1985. It saw the use of the Chevrolet Camaro in all races, was the second straight season that television coverage was on CBS, and continued the format introduced in IROC VIII. Race one took place on the Daytona International Speedway, race two took place at Mid-Ohio, race three was rained out at Talladega Superspeedway, and race four concluded the year at Michigan International Speedway. Harry Gant won the championship and $158,200 in a tie-breaker with Darrell Waltrip.

Harry Gant, the IROC IX champion

The roster of drivers and final points standings were as follows: [1]

Rank Driver Points Winnings Series
1 United States Harry Gant 1 45 $158,200 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
2nd in 1984 Winston Cup points
2 United States Darrell Waltrip 1 45 $80,400 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
5th in 1984 Winston Cup points
3 United States Bobby Rahal 40 $55,100 CART PPG IndyCar World Series
3rd in 1984 IndyCar points
4 United States Tom Sneva 32 $43,000 CART PPG IndyCar World Series
2nd in 1984 IndyCar points
5 United States Terry Labonte 2 31 $39,300 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1984 Winston Cup Champion
6 United Kingdom Derek Bell 2 31 $30,000 World Endurance Championship
4th in 1984 World Sportscar Championship
7 United Kingdom John Watson 30 $29,000 FIA Formula One World Championship
World Endurance Championship
Winner of the 1984 Fuji 1000KM
8 United States Cale Yarborough 29 $27,400 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Defending IROC Champion
1984 Daytona 500 winner
9 United States A. J. Foyt 28 $29,500 CART PPG IndyCar World Series
IROC III & IROC IV Champion
10 West Germany Jochen Mass 27 $23,000 World Endurance Championship
2nd in 1984 World Sportscar Championship
11 United States Mario Andretti 3 25 $26,700 CART PPG IndyCar World Series
1984 IndyCar Champion
IROC VI champion
12 United States Tom Gloy 13 $20,000 SCCA Trans-Am Series
1984 Trans-Am Champion

Race results

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Race One, Daytona International Speedway

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Friday, February 15, 1985

Finish Grid Car
no.
Driver Car Make Car Color Laps Status Laps
Led
Points
1 11 5   Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet Camaro
Light Blue
40 0:32:55 1 23 (2)
2 6 1   Tom Sneva Chevrolet Camaro
White
40 Flagged 17
3 9 4   A. J. Foyt Chevrolet Camaro
Cream
40 Flagged 35 19 (5)
4 4 8   Derek Bell Chevrolet Camaro
Orange
40 Flagged 12
5 12 7   Harry Gant Chevrolet Camaro
Blue
40 Flagged 10
6 7 3   Cale Yarborough Chevrolet Camaro
Pink
40 Flagged 4 12 (3)
7 8 17   Jochen Mass Chevrolet Camaro
Silver
40 Flagged 8
8 1 2   John Watson Chevrolet Camaro
Dark Blue
40 Flagged 7
9 3 12   Bobby Rahal Chevrolet Camaro
Red
39 Crash 6
10 5 6   Terry Labonte Chevrolet Camaro
Yellow
39 Flagged 5
11 10 11   Tom Gloy Chevrolet Camaro
Black
15 Crash 4
12 2 9   Mario Andretti Chevrolet Camaro
Orange Yellow
5 Mechanical 3

(5) Indicates 5 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading the most laps.
(3) Indicates 3 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading the 2nd most laps
(2) Indicates 2 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading the 3rd most laps.

Average speed: 182.278 mph (293.348 km/h)
Cautions: 1 (Lap 15, Tom Gloy accident in the tri-oval.)
Margin of victory: 3 sec
Lead changes: 3

Race Two, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

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Mario Andretti in IROC race at Mid-Ohio (1985)

Friday, June 8, 1985

Finish Grid Car
no.
Driver Car Make Car Color Laps Status Laps
Led
Points
1 4 17   Bobby Rahal Chevrolet Camaro
Silver
29 0:49:30 2 24 (3)
2 5 7   John Watson Chevrolet Camaro
Blue
29 Flagged 17
3 1 3   Mario Andretti Chevrolet Camaro
Pink
29 Flagged 27 19 (5)
4 6 8   Jochen Mass Chevrolet Camaro
Orange
29 Flagged 12
5 9 2   Derek Bell Chevrolet Camaro
Dark Blue
29 Flagged 10
6 8 1   Harry Gant Chevrolet Camaro
White
29 Flagged 9
7 12 6   Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet Camaro
Yellow
29 Flagged 8
8 11 11   Tom Sneva Chevrolet Camaro
Black
29 Flagged 7
9 3 5   Terry Labonte Chevrolet Camaro
Powder Blue
29 Flagged 6
10 10 10   A. J. Foyt Chevrolet Camaro
Red
29 Flagged 5
11 2 18   Tom Gloy Chevrolet Camaro
Light Blue
29 Flagged 4
12 7 12   Cale Yarborough Chevrolet Camaro
Dark Red
29 Flagged 3

(5) Indicates 5 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading the most laps.
(3) Indicates 3 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading the 2nd most laps
(2) Indicates 2 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading the 3rd most laps (Did not occur in this race so not awarded).

Average speed: 84.363 mph (135.769 km/h)
Cautions: none
Margin of victory: 2.4 sec
Lead changes: 1

Race Three, Talladega Superspeedway

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This race was scheduled for Saturday July 27th, 1985 but was canceled due to rain

Race Four, Michigan International Speedway

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Saturday, August 10, 1985

Finish Grid Car
no.
Driver Car Make Car Color Laps Status Laps
Led
Points
1 8 18   Harry Gant Chevrolet Camaro
Light Blue
50 0:39:09 33 26 (5)
2 10 5   Terry Labonte Chevrolet Camaro
Powder Blue
50 Flagged 13 20 (3)
3 9 12   Cale Yarborough Chevrolet Camaro
Dark Red
50 Flagged 14
4 1 2   Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet Camaro
Dark Blue
50 Flagged 4 14 (2)
5 2 1   Bobby Rahal Chevrolet Camaro
White
50 Flagged 10
6 6 11   Derek Bell Chevrolet Camaro
Black
50 Flagged 9
7 3 6   Tom Sneva Chevrolet Camaro
Yellow
50 Flagged 8
8 7 17   Jochen Mass Chevrolet Camaro
Silver
50 Flagged 7
9 4 8   John Watson Chevrolet Camaro
Orange
50 Flagged 6
10 11 3   Tom Gloy Chevrolet Camaro
Pink
49 Flagged 5
11 5 7   A. J. Foyt Chevrolet Camaro
Blue
27 Mechanical 4
12 X X   Mario Andretti 3 Chevrolet Camaro Not Assigned 0 Did Not Start,
Injured
3

(5) Indicates 5 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading the most laps.
(3) Indicates 3 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading the 2nd most laps
(2) Indicates 2 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading the 3rd most laps.

Average speed: 153.257 mph (246.643 km/h)
Cautions: none
Margin of victory: 4 feet
Lead changes: 8

Notes

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  1. Harry Gant and Darrell Waltrip tied for the championship, but Gant was awarded the title due to a higher finishing position in the final race.
  2. Terry Labonte and Derek Bell tied for fifth place, but Labonte was awarded the position due a higher finish in the final race.
  3. Mario Andretti did not compete in the final race due to injury.

References

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  1. ^ IROC season statistics at racing-reference.info Archived 2007-03-14 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved March 8, 2007
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